Have you ever been to Constitution Island in Putnam? I had never been until last week, when Joe Larese and I went out to report and shoot a story on the Constitution Island Association’s Garden Day on Saturday. What a treat.

Here’s a look at the restored gardens of Anna Warner, who lived on the island from 1836 to 1915 (all photos by Joe). The 18-room Warner house is in the background. It will also be open for tours on Saturday.

The 280-acre island is owned by West Point and public access is limited. So I recommend going when it’s open to the public—usually the last Saturday of the month in summer, with shuttle bus service from the Cold Spring train station parking lot. (It’s not really an island anymore.)

Other public tours come over by boat from West Point on Wednesdays and Thursdays in the summer.

The island sits on a strategic bend in the Hudson right across from West Point, just south of Cold Spring. This is one of the spots where American patriots put a giant chain across the river to prevent British warships from coming up the Hudson in the Revolutionary War.

Here’s a look toward West Point. It’s amazing how narrow the river is here.

Anyway, here’s a “link”:http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707240310 to an article I wrote for the paper advancing Garden Day, with lots more history of the island and what’s on tap for Saturday.

Here’s association president Richard de Koster in the herb garden.

And globe thistle in the path garden.

And a “link”:http://www.constitutionisland.org/ to the Constitution Island Association Web site.